“I believe passing the petition to get the question on the ballot… At long last the commission will put more information out to the public. Get my drift. I’m not sure there will be enough signatures to place on the ballot…” So goes part of a text message sent to me from a signature collector of the petition to abolish the City Advertising and Promotion Commission (CAPC), also known as Local Issue #3.

However, despite numerous requests for name removal, there were enough signatures.

There were enough.

And now businesses are grappling with an unimaginable challenge, facing potential closures, job losses and the heartbreaking prospect of separation from their employees. The individual who sent the text? They continue to enjoy their privilege, with nothing to lose, spending much of their time at their retirement condo in Fayetteville. The petitioner is nowhere to be found, nor are the promised solutions.

What are the next steps beyond the notion that the “Chamber of Commerce will save us?” Their objective is not to recoup millions of dollars in losses, but what are the implications when the Chamber encounters additional constraints to its already modest budget as business owners terminate their memberships?

Online, I encounter misinformation and complaints, and a segment of the public opts to refrain from engaging directly with credible sources of information. Instead, they dwell on past grievances, causing individuals in the present to pay for the transgressions of the past. It’s perplexing how someone can be driven by such intense emotion that they are driven toward unconscionable indifference to a community they claim to love. Yet here we are.

So, how did the text end?

“… not worried the CAPC will be voted out if it does go to a vote.”

Well, it’s gone to a

vote.

Many now ask, “How will it end?”

By voting against Local Issue #3, you stand in solidarity with the pillars of our community. You support the entrepreneurs who drive our economy, the police officers who protect our safety, the firefighters who risk their lives to save ours, the essential workers who keep our city running and the residents who call this whimsical, magical place home. Please vote no on Local Issue #3.

Help write a new beginning instead.

— Heather Wilson Eureka Springs